Saturday

Nellie Rodriguez hit a two-run, game-ending home run in the ninth inning to give the Clippers a 5-3 win over the Durham Bulls on Saturday night in front of 6,051 at Huntington Park.

Mike Papi walked to lead off the final inning before Rodriguez hit a line drive over the center-field wall off of Bulls closer Ryan Stanek (0-1). Reliever Ben Taylor (1-1) got the win after throwing two hitless innings and striking out four.

The Clippers had to rally from a 3-0 deficit. The Bulls' Jason Coats hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Joe McCarthy had an RBI double in the fifth off Clippers starter Adam Wilk, who allowed seven hits in five innings.

The Clippers made it 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth on a Brandon Barnes two-run homer and tied it on a Francisco Mejia solo home run in the sixth.

Neither team scored in the seventh and eighth innings, and the Bulls were retired in order in the ninth to set the stage for Rodriguez.

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